Bears officially Scrooged

Berrian catch in end zone ruled no TD after review

Taking one look at the replay on the giant video board inside Ford Field with 1 minutes 26 seconds left in Sunday's 19-13 loss to the Detroit Lions, the Bears believed they had regained their mojo in Motown.

Bernard Berrian, who had just scored the apparent go-ahead touchdown on a 43-yard pass from Chad Hutchinson, traded chest bumps with David Terrell.

A smiling Hutchinson smacked high-fives and started a sideline celebration the football gods would never let him finish.

Asked if he had begun to celebrate, Hutchinson answered: "Didn't [everyone]? [Berrian] had two feet in and kept the ball in his possession. When I see it on TV like that, it's a touchdown."

Even Lions coach Steve Mariucci said, "I think it might have been a touchdown, maybe, like you did."

The Bears already had begun setting up their two-minute defense when referee Terry McAulay became the grinch who stole the Bears' Christmas weekend win.

Replay official Bobby Skelton reviewed the play in consultation with McAulay, who then announced to the delight of the crowd that Berrian had not had control of the football when he came down in the end zone.

"After review, as the receiver was going to the ground on his own, the ball moved when he hit the ground," McAulay said. "It is an incomplete pass as ruled on the field."

Bears ecstasy became agony in an instant. The look on coach Lovie Smith's face was longer than the Bears' road losing streak in December, now at seven games, and his expression had not changed after the game.

"I got the same explanation that you got it, [and] I'm still not exactly sure what it was," Smith said. "I think in time more people will see it my way.

"Maybe I'm wrong, [and] if you slow it down, and slow it down, maybe I saw it different and they had the best shot. I'll go home and look at it tonight. Of course, that doesn't really matter."

Berrian, the rookie deep threat who beat reserve cornerback Andre Goodman by a step, had worried that his feet were out of bounds but never doubted his control of the ball.

"All they needed to take was one look at it to see that," Berrian said. "I don't really know what else to say."

The Bears similarly ran out of answers when their offense returned to the field after the no-touchdown call "knocked us back," Smith said. Three straight incompletions by a rattled Hutchinson ensured the Bears' 10th loss of a tough-luck season.

"We should not have let it come down to that," Hutchinson said. "I'll take it upon my shoulders as the quarterback that we didn't play well until the fourth quarter. I'm just a little fired up right now."

For most of four quarters in the Motor City, the Bears' offense looked as high-powered as the Model T.

The running game improved as Thomas Jones enjoyed his first 100-yard game since Sept. 26 with 109 yards on 22 carries. But the passing game stretched the field as little as it did the imagination. Hutchinson completed 20 of 35 passes for just 114 yardsonly 5.7 yards per completion compared with 5.0 yards per carry for Jonesin a low-risk, low-reward attack.

With former coach Dick Jauron calling defenses for the Lions, the Bears played as if John Shoop were calling plays for them again.